The Sunday News
JEREMIAH was Sofia’s childhood sweetheart before she was forcibly married to Nyati, the rich old man. We meet her today when he is supposed to be at the Rotten Row Magistrate’s Court in Harare to attend Sofia’s trial. He is the one and the only witness who was present the day Sofia’s husband, Nyati died. He was brought in as the State’s witness soon after Sofia’s testimony.
Jeremiah says whatever Sofia’s fate turns out to be he would never forgive himself for the role he played in the unfolding saga. There is no doubt that he played a pivotal role in the unfolding of that drama. He blames his impulsive nature. “Was there any good reason for him to keep on chasing after a married woman? No matter how unhappily married she was, I had no right to keep on pursuing her.” The fact that she was his childhood sweetheart did not give him the licence to destroy or to interfere. The effect of it all has been destructive.
Jeremiah finds himself entangled in this unfolding drama because he has walked out on his wife and reunited with Sofia. Sofia’s marriage to Nyati is also on the rocks. Jeremiah is in deep thought before going for Sofia’s trial. He is debating within himself that if only he had married Sofia. If only Sofia had not left him for a rich man old enough to be her father. Before their reunion, he had never been able to understand why Sofia had dropped him all of a sudden as she did. The most shattering thing was to learn about her marriage to that rich old man, only a few months after that.
She had fallen pregnant and Jeremiah had never felt so betrayed. He remembers the rhyme he wrote to Sofia, the day that he received her letter informing him to forget all about her then. The rhyme goes like this: “There goes the cheat riding on the back of a cheater chasing after the teacher who taught her how to cheat. There goes the sucker carrying a sack, a sack full of sand she thinks it’s full of gold.”
Why is Jeremiah interested in Sofia’s trial? He knows very well that her trial is going to be decisive as to the direction his life would take from now. Had she not taken the stubborn stance about the so called “truth” she would have been assured of winning the case. After all it was up to the prosecution to prove that he she had caused Nyati’s death. He says the unfolding of this tragic saga has in fact helped deepen his love for Sofia. He is prepared to do anything within his reach to help Sofia get out of her plight.
Jeremiah is excited at the timely reunion with Sofia. They could not have met at a better time than this. Both their marriages were already on the rocks. Jeremiah asks if he could possibly pay Sofia a visit for old time’s sake. Sofia tells him that he is free to come anytime. Jeremiah says: “That is how the fire of love was rekindled in my heart. A cursed fire that resulted in the tragic death of Sofia’s husband and father, and her own subsequent arrest. Was this the love that poets describe as ‘sweet and innocent?’”
Jeremiah’s poverty led to the ultimate collapse of his marriage. His friend, Joe Manhanga’s progress and his lack of it became a point of conflict between him and his wife Matilda. Joe bought a house in the low density suburbs. Matilda says to Jeremiah: “Some of us will die lodgers, while others are making progress.” There is a carry over in this discussion with no compromise between Jeremiah and his wife. Jeremiah is persecuted for being poor by his wife. She tells him that some women are very lucky. They marry progressive husbands yet they are married to men possessed by an evil spirit of poverty.
Jeremiah tells his wife that he thinks their marriage will never work as they are too incompatible, too different. Matilda hits back saying: “That is very true. We are not the same at all. I really believe that I deserve someone a lot more progressive than you.” Four weeks later, Matilda announced that she had been allocated the long awaited Government flat. She had definitely pressed a lot of buttons in order to get the flat.
Two weeks later, he caught her in bed with one of the senior officers from the ministry of houses. That was the escape route he had been looking for, therefore immediately packed his bags and left.
The next we meet Jeremiah will be in Sofia’s flat bought for her by Nyati. This is the day Nyati intended to kill him and Sofia, unfortunately he failed to locate his gun. Jeremiah tells us that he was brought in as a State witness soon after Sofia’s testimony. He says: “My testimony tallied very much with Sofia’s. Yes, I too had heard Nyati confess that he had washed in Tabitha’s blood.”
What is Sofia’s fate?
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